Behind a career-high of 20 points from junior guard Cooper Noard, Cornell men’s basketball improved to 4-2 with an 84-68 win over Iona at the Hynes Center Monday.
“He (Noard) is an elite shooter, he got really good shots,” said first-year Cornell coach Jon Jaques.
Junior guard Adam Hinton added a career-high 12 points.
Cornell was averaging 83 points per game entering the contest and was the fastest KenPom team in the country based upon most possessions.
Cornell opened up a 5-0 lead on a trey from its leading scorer, sophomore guard Jake Fiegen.
The Big Red led 45-39 at the half, holding the lead for 19:04. They were 11-for-12 from the charity stripe in the first stanza, compared with 3-for-5 for the Gaels.
The visitors went on a 10-2 run to open the second half to lead 55-41.
The advantage grew to 75-55 on a sophomore guard Jacob Beccles jumper, his only points of the game.
Cornell had 17 turnovers but shot 48% from the field.
The win was the first ever for the Big Red over the Gaels (1-5) and started a five-game road swing.
They will next be at Syracuse’s JMA Wireless Dome on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Big Red have lost 43 consecutive games to the Orange.